Can You Ever Forgive Me?

A few weeks ago, Faithib sent me an email about a promotion for a free Senseo single serving coffee machine. I must've been too caught up in dragging my new toy all over town, bragging about it in person, and loosing myself in cup after cup of delicious, frothy goodness, because I seem to have forgotten to blog about it somehow. *blush*

The Senseo is, above all, a gourmet coffee machine that saves you money and time. Making 1-2 cups of creamy, frothy coffee in less than a minute, and starting at as little as $30 (with a coupon), it is one of the most frugal deals in fine home beverage creation. I literally have not had a better cup of plain, simple coffee, even at a gourmet coffee house.

I was truly amazed by how easy it is to clean! All of the removable parts are dishwasher safe. The silver drain cover comes off to reveal a reservoir for spilled coffee that can be easily removed and dumped without having to drag the whole machine across the kitchen or office. It also has two different size inserts available for your machine so that you can adjust the strength of your brew by varying the number of pods you use. I could even send the 5yo into the kitchen to brew the coffee if I wanted to because the buttons have pictures instead of words under them, and the process is so simple. (not that I would, hot=burney badness, but I could) . We also like to use it to heat water for hot cocoa, hot vanilla, and spiced cider.

Heating the water only when needed, only in the amount needed, and turning itself off automatically after a bit saves electricity too.

There were some things I didn’t like about the Senseo, don’t get me wrong. The default reservoir is bit too small for my liking, holding only 4 cups worth of water. When the button says one cup, it means one cup, the measurement. I have to push the button for two cups under it to fill my huge mug for my morning ritual of thanks to the great and mighty goddess Caffeina. *wink*

I'm frugal to a fault, so when I saw that you had to buy specially made pods for the Senseo, I decided there had to be another way. I must have frothy tea too, I reasoned, I don’t want to pay that much for coffee when I can’t have my own custom blend, and I want my own primo coffee to be brewed this nicely. I needed to create a reuseable brewing pod for my machine! After talking with Ameryth about the idea, a couple of things came to light, I was going to have to sew, and this could get messy.

As usual with a difficult project, I set the idea on the back burner to stew for a while by itself. Only I wasn't alone in my idea. On a trip to the dreaded big box store, I found the Presto Mypod, a holder for your coffee that fits into your Senseo machine! Unable to resist, I bought it as well as the 100 pack of Mypod filters , which I will be making for myself out of regular coffee filters as soon as this pack runs out. It's a great adapter, low priced, and super-easy to clean like the rest of the Senseo, but I missed my 1/4" of froth at the top of my beverage. It is great for non-frothy things like potions and simple teas, but it doesn’t have the “frothing chamber” that the Senseo brand parts have, so I renewed my search.

I found the coveted large water tank for making more gourmet coffee with less trips to the sink (a must for entertaining), the Quick Cup refillable pseudo-pod that replaces the premade pods for the machine, and the Ecopad . Now the Ecopad is what I was really looking for. The idea that started the search in the first place. It is refillable, easy to clean, and replaces the Senseo pods seamlessly, allowing the full joy of the Senseo to shine through, froth and all. I’m so excited, I’m not even upset that somebody beat me to it. *smile*

After reading Faithib's blog post about her Senseo, I expanded my search and discovered a milk frother and a travel version of a frother that could be handily carried in my purse as well. Add in some heavy cream, natural cane sugar, and a flavor shot, and we’re getting into some seriously high-end coffee enjoyment that I suspect would rival even the most decadent coffeehouse treat.

Of course, the promotion for the free machine is now closed, so sadly I can’t tell you how to get your own for free, but you can still get a $20 rebate when you buy your new Senseo, even when you purchase the Senseo with gift pack that comes with extra gourmet coffee pods, a thermal travel mug, and other goodies.

I really wish The Radish had a Senseo with a large water resivoir and some reuseable Ecopads. It sure would save them a lot of previously wasted coffee, time, and electricity if they did. (Hint: give the perfect gift to your local infoshop, drop off a Senseo)

I know I sound a bit gushy here, but this machine gets better with each week I have it. Starting with amazing on first sight was pretty hard to beat, but the people at Senseo know what they are doing. The introduction of new gourmet flavored coffee pods on a regular basis, tea pods, and more, have made owning the Senseo an experience worth bragging about.

Freebie: Try Sumatra Blend for free! Sign up to receive a free individually wrapped coffee pod of Sumatra Blend.

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